By RANDEEP LOTAY
PCA PRO
Let me introduce myself, for those of you who
don’t know me, my name is Randeep Lotay.
I am from Birmingham and I train at the amazing
Ultimate Fitness Gym in Birmingham and I have been
a competitive bodybuilder for the past 7 years.
RANDEEP LOTAY
I
I have always been an active
individual and trained many times
per week in my local council gym
and studied the martial arts of
Kung Fu for approx. 4 years.
I did my first real bodybuilding
diet in my early twenties which was
just for myself, mainly to see how
I would look. Then by the age of 25
I entered my first bodybuilding show
which was the NABBA Novice.
I entered this show with no real
expectations other than to say
I done it. I walked away with a
first-place trophy and some great
feedback. This really inspired me
to keep going and I did the NABBA
Novice All Sports UK Finals later
that year and placed 3rd.
Since then, I have competed
several times (10 to be precise!)
with a few different federations.
The most recent and my proudest
achievement to date is with the
PCA where I won the class 3
category at the 2017 British Finals,
then went on to win the overall
British title and was awarded with
my PCA Pro card.
So, what or who inspired me?
I had always trained from a young
GOT INTO TRAINING
from a young age whilst still
at school. I remember on
Friday afternoons, we had
a choice to play football, go ice
skating, stay in school or hit the
local council gym. I decided on
the latter and have pretty much
been hooked since!
age but only when I had seen some
of the great physiques in the gym,
I then trained hard and thought...”
“wow”, I wonder if I could ever look
half as good.”
I then got the help of a Personal
Trainer who is now a good friend
and my brother in law (Lee Atlas
Harding.)
He gave me the belief that I could
enter a show and he then prepared
me for it. I recall dieting for this
show and I had the intention that I
would do this, just to say I have
done it. I had no real expectation of
ever placing let alone winning!
I remember on the day of the
show, I was paying for my parking
ticket at the Brierley Hill Civic Hall
and a giant of a man came and
stood next to me also waiting to pay.
He was huge! easily over a foot
taller than me, wide as a house and
he had a sleeveless hoodie on and
was all tanned. I said casually
“competing today mate... what
class?” he answered, “yeah first
timers” .... my heart sank and I
dragged my feet all the way back to
the car thinking I was just going to
embarrass myself.... little did I know
I would go on to win the first timers
class! just goes to show, it's not all
about being the biggest on stage!
That was approximately, 7 years
ago and since then I have done a
number of shows. I will be the first
to admit, despite having an impres-
sive trophy cabinet of successful
placings, my own self confidence is
not always high, which is why I am
so grateful to have some real great
people around me who truly believe
in me all the way, which in itself has
FEBRUARY 2018 | FLEX
101